Unilever says it will ban face scrub product polluting harbour in two months

The alternatives to microbeads are known and available.

By Tim Barlass

November 22, 2014 — 2.39pm

A global consumer company says in two months it will start phasing out a facial scrub ingredient polluting Sydney Harbour.

The push back against tiny microscopic plastic beads used in scrubs and exfoliants, along with other plastic fragments is to be stepped up, with scientists about to start examining if they are accumulating in fish regularly consumed by humans.

Polluted: Micro-plastics used in scrubs and exfoliants are flowing into Sydney Harbour. Credit:David Gray

An Australian Research Council grant has been awarded to bring in a US expert on the problem as global personal care leader Unilever, which owns the Dove brand, has thrown down the gauntlet, saying it will start phasing out the use of microbeads in January.

In a statement to The Sun-Herald it said: "In Australia and around the world, Unilever is in the process of phasing micro-plastics out of our personal care products. We have been exploring suitable alternatives that will deliver the same performance. We will begin the next stage of the phase out in January and expect to be complete by 2015."

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Consumers can also vote as they shop by downloading a phone app to scan barcodes on scrubs and exfoliating creams to check whether they contain the harmful polyethylene microbeads.

The plastics, smaller than half a millimetre, have been found in sediment in the harbour and can be ingested by worms which are in turn consumed by fish. At Middle Harbour scientists found 60-100 particles of plastic micro debris in 100 ml of sediment – among the highest levels recorded in the world.

Environment Minister Rob Stokes has called for the additive to be banned by the end of 2016 and said he plans to raise the matter at a meeting of all state and territory environment ministers in the new year.

and environmentalists including Jon Dee, founder of advocacy group Do Something, which previously successfully campaigned with The Sun-Herald to get phosphates banned in

Mr Stokes told The Sun-Herald: "The industry has recognised the environmental impacts and appears to be keen to work with us towards a ban in 2016. As soon as we became aware of this threat we acted before the problem got on top of us. I am confident that we can win this one."

Mr Dee said other companies should follow Unilver's lead.

"If a global organisation like Unilever is able to start phasing out microbeads from next January, then there's no reason why other companies shouldn't join them," he said.

"The alternatives to microbeads are known and available, so there's no reason why the cosmetics industry shouldn't be microbead-free by the end of 2016. If they aren't, then they are knowingly polluting Australia's waterways."

L'Oreal said in a statement the group will have phased out all polyethylene microbeads by 2017.Beiersdorf, which owns the Nivea brand, said it would find an alternative to plastic beads and had decided to discontinue using polyethylene particles in care products in the future.

"At this time we are changing our formulae accordingly. Our goal is to replace all polyethylene particles in all relevant products by the end of 2015."

In a statement, cosmetics industry body ACCORD said the cosmetics industry in the US had committed to a phase-out of polyethylene microbeads by the end of 2017.

"The local industry is committed also to working towards this deadline," it said in a statement.

Professor Emma Johnston from the Sydney Institute of Marine Science.and director of the Sydney Harbour Research Program said research was looking at whether stormwater drains were a source of microbeads and other microplastics in the harbour.

"We have seen the microplastics in the guts of worms but we haven't actually yet tested whether or not that is getting further into the food chain," she said.

"Microplastics can get into the tissues of the fish and they can transfer other organic contaminants into fish tissue. The consequences of this in terms of human health for people consuming fish are not clear."

Number of products containing microbeads out of total face scrub/exfoliating products supplied